It is
only necessary to see the attention visitors give to a clock with wooden
gears when it is displayed in a woodworking exhibition, to realise that
this small part of our craft has immense and universal appeal.

Nevertheless
few of us have ever actually tried to make one of these clocks. The most
probable reason for this is that there is relatively little published
material to serve as a guide.

Making
Wooden Clocks is clearly aimed at filling this gap. It is essentially
a project book that provides detailed plans and instructions for what
the authors term are '6 Cool Contraptions'.

Before
mentioning just what these 'contraptions' are, it is important to say
that the book is accompanied by a set of full-size patterns. A pocket
on the inside cover houses these plans; they cover all of the components
required by the clocks and the authors suggest that these be regarded
as masters from which working copies are produced prior to getting down
to work.

The first
project is a 30-hour Gear Clock - an elegant and highly attractive skeleton
pendulum clock.

The treatment
of its construction is covered in clear concise text, eight detail photos,
a line diagram, a comprehensive exploded diagram of the whole clock, as
well as material and tool lists.

The 'contraptions'
which follow are titled: Genesis Wooden Gear Clock, Compact Gear Clock,
Flying Pendulum Clock, Key-wound Gear Clock and Electromagnetic Gear Clock.
Each of these is treated in a similar manner to the first.

It should
be remarked that the use of exploded diagrams is especially valuable since
they make it easy to see the relationships between the working components.

A final
chapter deals with utilising the same techniques as those employed for
clock making in the construction of a Gear Machine or wooden kinetic sculpture.

The book
offers a new and exciting range of possibilities to anyone who has become
proficient in the use of a scrollsaw.